Abstract

The objectives of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) were to compare the mean duration of hospital stay and mean time to relieve severe pneumonia signs and symptoms with or without zinc supplementation in hospitalized young children. This RCT was conducted from Oct 2011 to Mar 2012. in the paediatric department, PGM/Lahore General Hospital. Three hundred children (150 in each group) were randomly allocated to two groups: group A received zinc syrup (20 mg/day q 12 hourly) till discharge and group B received placebo syrup. This in addition to the antibiotic treatment. Data for severe pneumonia signs and symptoms i.e. oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, temperature and chest indrawing were recorded. The mean age of participants was 16.65+4.23 months in Group-A and15.96+5.11 months in Group-B. We found that the mean duration to relieve severe pneumonia signs and symptoms was 44.62+2.56 hours in Group-A and 48.73+3.124 hours in Group-B (p-value 0.023).Duration of hospital stay was 128.31+3.71 hours in Group-A and 137.67+2.56 in Group-B (p-value 0.001). We conclude that zinc supplementation for the treatment of children with pneumonia is an effective therapy along with standard treatment.

Key words: Children; Pneumonia; Relief of symptoms; Zinc supplementation